Release: Edge features have been fixed and all known bugs appear to have been handled

Stable: Release has been out for at least 2 weeks without any known issues.

Numbering of updates

Beta: Beta_62
The number represents the Edge that the new tests are built on top of. Does not have to match the Edge numbers.

Edge: Edge_63
Edge updates are basically tests of features to be released soon. Edges can be released hourly if need be. Edge is the 'cutting edge' and it comes with risk, but the fixes come quickly.

Release: Release_59
Release should be once an Edge has been found to be 'low risk'. It should not have any new features or fixes. It should be based on an Edge number that has been found to be 'Good'.
The number could be way off from the Edge number, and it can be as long as a week between 'Releases'

Stable: Stable_34
Very Important. Stable means stable. It does not have any untested features or fixes.
It should be based only on a previous 'Release', and only have a good period of time.
Also.... When updating manually, we should be able to choose which update we want. Such as, if Stable_59 has just been released, give me an option to only update to Stable_34

Example of how it would work....

Beta_3a comes out with new 'back-scratching' feature.
'3a' is based on Edge_3
Beta_3b comes out with new 'core a apple' feature.
'3b' is still based on Edge 3

Edge_4 comes out. It may contain anything. Nobody liked the back-scratching, so that was scratched, but the 'core a apple' feature is added.

Edge_5 fixes something.
Edge_6 adds new 'orange squeezer'
Edge_7 (released 2 hours later) adds 'lemon squeezer'
Edge_8 (2 days later)add Blue Goo feature
Edge_9 (day later) add 'tweetle beetles'
Edge_10 Remove Blue Goo, replace with 'New Goo'
Release_7 comes out, based on Edge_7, since Edge_7 has been shown to be 'Good' Note that this is after several days. It is just based on what is now thought to be 'good', without extra features, but perhaps with extra bug fixes.

-2 weeks-
Release_7a fixes a minor bug found in _7
Edge_45
Edge_46
Release_39 comes out, based on 'Good' tests of Edge_39
Stable_7 comes out as Release_7 has shown to be pretty stable. A couple of bug fixes on top of Release_7 might have been added
There could be months between Stable releases.

The numbers should be based on 'what is in the feature set'. Not... this is the number we are up to.

Remember, those that choose Stable expect it to be stable. They don't want or need the cutting edge. They lag behind, more conservatively. They don't need all the special new features added. They know that if they want a special feature they can always get a release or edge.

They may even tend to stay 2 Stable releases behind. They are the type to not upgrade to Windows XP until SP2 comes out.

If, on the rare chance that a Stable is found to have a bug, simple fix it and add an 'a' to it. Stable_7a is a fix for _7

Sometimes it seems that the production schedule gets caught up in the race to add something new, especially when you have people on the board complaining that they need this, and they need that. Yada Yada. That's good, but keep it on the Edge.

Stable should always be month's behind. Some of us are patient. Some of us might still be using DOS.

It's nice to see that Stable_13 was so stable that it took 7 minutes before Stable_16 came out.

I forget.... what does stable mean again????

I think I see what is going on. Perhaps I'm wrong here, but does it seem like ONE file is worked on? Make changes.... save as Edge_#
Make more changes.... save as Edge_#+1
Change one line in code.... save as Edge_#+1
Another line, maybe correct some spelling.... save as Release_#+1
Uh oh. Fix something...... save as Edge_#+1
Since that last edge fixed a bug, save also as Release_#+1
OK... all looks good. 5 minutes with no problems..... save as Stable_#+1

Is it me? Or does it really seem that way? There does not seem to be 3 separate code bases. It's whatever is being worked on at the time. I hope I'm wrong....

As for this is could just be that when the stable was released a bug was instantly found and corrected... personally i would rather that it was corrected and it seemed like the updates were done rather quickly than left. Plus the reason this was probably done was because anyone who had the Stable updates option set would be downloading a version that had a bug, so rather than correct it and keep it as edge, they probably decided to release another stable....

Originally posted by SoftmegUK As for this is could just be that when the stable was released a bug was instantly found and corrected... personally i would rather that it was corrected and it seemed like the updates were done rather quickly than left. Plus the reason this was probably done was because anyone who had the Stable updates option set would be downloading a version that had a bug, so rather than correct it and keep it as edge, they probably decided to release another stable....

Click to expand...

Yes. good that the bug was fixed instantly. But..... why a bug in a 'stable' release? A bug that is found so quickly?

Again, a recurring theme here is.... Stable should be Stable, not 'thought to be stable'.

That was my point. I'm not whining or complaining. Rather, I am trying to point out what the definition of Stable is, and hoping that one day, it will be.